USS Bunker Hill (CV-17)

The USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) was a US Navy aircraft carrier that was launched on 7 December 1942 and commissioned on 25 May 1943. The ship was named for the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War, and she took part in battles in the Pacific theater of World War II. During the Battle of Okinawa, the Bunker Hill was struck by two kamikaze planes within 30 seconds of each other, and the ship was set on fire, killing 346 crewmen and causing 43 MIAs. The ship returned to the American mainland for repairs after the battle, and she remained under repair even after hostilities ended in September 1945. She was decommissioned in 1947 and served in reserve. An effort to save her as a museum ship in 1972 failed, and she was sold for scrap a year later.